The present invention relates generally to an automatic wiring analyzer (AWA), and more particularly to a smart automatic wiring analyzer that is portable, self-contained and applicable to test wires or harnesses in a fuel rich environment.
While performing a test or analysis on a cable or a harness, the conventional wiring analyzer is normally connected to an interface fixture such as a unique harness board containing connectors designed to interface the cable or the harness under test. The process to define how the harness board connectors are connected or attached to the wiring analyzer is done by probing each pin of the harness board connectors guided by a software. Alternatively, a keyboard entry for one pin at a time may also be applied to define the connection between the harness board pin and the pin of the wiring analyzer. In this manner, for a harness of 512 points, 512 manual steps (probing or keying) are required.
Thus, the above wiring analyzer normally has a large volume and a heavy weight applicable to bench operation only. This kind of wiring analyzer is typically rack mounted, and have to be wheeled up to a vehicle or a plane with very long cables. Further, the wiring analyzer is normally operated with a 60 Hz power and cannot be used in a fuel-rich environment.
A smart automatic wiring analyzer comprising at least two modular wiring analyzer boxes stacked together is provided. The modular wiring analyzer boxes has a plurality of testing pins connected to a plurality of interface pins of at least a connector built in the smart automatic wiring analyzer. Thereby, a direct connection to the cable under test can be established without introducing an external interface fixture. A wire list of the connection between the test pins and the interface pins is pre-stored in a reference file. When a cable is to be tested, the reference file is called up to generate a test program according to the wiring pattern of the cable. The cable can thus be tested.
The smart automatic wiring analyzer provided in the invention further comprises a transformer that can operate at either 60 Hz or 400 Hz. In addition, a military transit case can be used to house the system, therefore, it can be used in a military application. As the additional interface fixture is removed, a volume of less than 1 cubic foot and a weight of about 24 lb can be realized smart automatic wiring analyzer according to claim 1, further comprising a military transit case. Further, The smart automatic wiring analyzer may employ a filter and an EMI gasketing meet EMI/EMC requirements of the MIL-STD-461D.
In one embodiment of the invention, a method for testing whether the short circuit condition of a cable/harness is provided. A wiring analyzer with at least a built-in connector is provided. The wiring analyzer has a plurality of testing pins connected to a plurality of interface pins of the built-in connector. A reference file which contains a wire list of between the testing pins and the interface pins is called up. A known-good cable of the same kind of a cable under test is provided and hooked up to the connector to generate and save a wiring pattern of the cable under test as a test program. The cable under test is then hooked up to the connector and tested with the test program. In this method, only one end of the cable under test is hooked up to the connector. When any abnormal path exist between the wires of the cable or between the wires and the ground, as it differs from the wiring pattern in the test program, a short circuit error is displayed.